Searching For Arceus: A Diamond Nuzlocke
by JX Burros
Summary: Derek accidentially gets himself mixed into the Trainer path, but with his religious upbringing, he can't bring himself to revive killed Pokemon like his opponents. With an alcoholic mother turning only to Arceus for help, Derek makes his way to the League where the prize is better than he could've imagined.


Chapter One

"Good morning! It's another wonderful day in Twinleaf Town! It's 6 o'clock and this morning is hot! Be sure to put on your shorts! Coming up next, 'Choose me' by The Flaming Pip-Lips…" I groaned and slammed my fist on the snooze button. If it was 6, that meant that it was Sunday morning. Sunday morning always meant church. I held on to my pillow a little bit longer trying to recall the last of my dream, but I eventually succumbed to the reality that they'd fade away.

I rolled myself out of bed and quickly unplugged my alarm clock before it could go off again. I knew that I'd have to reset it again, but I never got out of the habit. I trudged my way to the bathroom and began showering and brushing my teeth. As I stood under the rushing hot water, I reminded myself why I did it. It was important to Mom. Ever since Dad left, she found peace in religion. As soon as the Revival crashed over Sinnoh, the churches began popping up everywhere.

I pulled on a tight fitting black zip-up and a pair of dark, non-ripped jeans. I know that my Mom felt that my attire wasn't fit for the eyes of Arceus, but I didn't buy into the whole church thing. It wasn't that I didn't believe the core values, but there were a lot of things that I didn't believe.

And sometimes I wondered, if Arceus could see me, why haven't I ever seen him?

That would be heresy, if my mom could ever hear my thoughts, but luckily she didn't. I would never be allowed to leave this house again. I was eighteen and itching to get out of the house, but short of being a Trainer, there weren't many other ways to make money. I'd always imagined being a house-husband of two little girls and a Pikachu, but there wasn't much of a market for that here. Until then, it was free rent for a room upstairs and church on Sundays.

I ran gel through my red hair and tried a faux-hawk for the tenth day in a row and sighed when it didn't work again. I worked it to the side swipe and headed downstairs. As soon as my foot hit the bottom of the stairs, I heard, "Oh, dear Arceus. Is that what you're wearing to church?"

I rolled my eyes and said, "Yes, Mom. He doesn't care what I'm wearing." She made a noise but quickly ran into the other room. She was running late again. I looked at the clock to see it read 6:30. We were going to have to leave very soon. "C'mon, Mom, we're going to be late." I slipped on my shoes and opened the door.

"Coming!" I heard her call. I stepped out the front door into the warming sun. It was a very pleasant morning so far. There was only a faint wind, and there were no clouds in the sky. I shut the door and closed my eyes, allowing myself to enjoy the freedom of the outdoors for just a minute. I heard the door open behind me and Mom stepped out.

"Alright," she said, shutting the door and locking it, "let's go."

We walked across town to church in silence. We used to talk all the time, but now that she found religion, Mom didn't need to occupy her sadness on me. She could put it all on Arceus.

We got to church and ended up on a bench in the back. I didn't mind it so much. I could stop listening without dirty looks from the front. The service began, and I let my eyes wander to the stained glass windows of Arceus, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina. I always wondered if anyone had ever actually seen them, and that's how they knew what they looked like.

Today, they were talking about Revives, as they did every service. That was the whole reason people turned back to Arceus. Waves of technological advancement had broken through the barriers of death. One revive could bring a Pokemon back from the depths of the other world to fight again. Now, with increasing numbers in places like Kanto and Johto, Sinnoh had begun to see the Revival, and while a lot of people seemed to be buying into it, I didn't. I didn't buy into the standing and singing either, but I knew that you couldn't bring Pokemon back from the dead without consequences. Once they crossed over, it was up to Arceus. To take a Pokemon out of his arms was just…

I looked around and the service was already over. I quickly hopped over the back of the bench to get out before I was stuck talking to one of the patrons. I could faintly hear my mother whispering angrily, "_Derek…_" but she was interrupted by the neighbors in front our house. I took that as my chance and hopped out of the doors and took refuge on the shadowed side of the building.

I hoped no one would see me there, but after a few seconds, I heard someone shout, "Derek!" I was only worried for a second, considering I've known that voice for most of my life. I spun around to see Mac. Mac, the boy with the blue eyes, golden hair, impeccable fashion…

"Oh my Arceus, Derek! I was watching the news today, and I saw this show about the red Gyarados, and I was wondering if there were any cool rare Pokemon in Lake Verity. You know, that one right next to town with the really shiny water? I was thinking that there _must_ be a cool Pokemon there. I mean, no water can be that clear without some kind of magic going…"

...And his big mouth. Whenever that boy wasn't running, he was running his mouth. It just never stopped. He was like a Spoink. If he ever stopped moving, I'm sure that his heart would stop.

He just kept talking, but I couldn't even take in all of those sounds coming from his mouth. I just stared at it, watching as his lips rapidly changed from one shape to the next, but never losing the curves on the side that registered it as a permanent smile.

"Derek!" I heard my mom say as she rounded the corner to see me. Any scolding I would've gotten stopped when she saw Mac. "Oh, hello, Mac! How's your mom doing?"

I wondered if she had interrupted him, but I didn't really mind. Although I loved to hear him talk, sometimes I didn't really want to listen. Mac shrugged his shoulders at my mom and said, "She was still sleeping when I left. Derek and I were just about to go to Lake Verity." He grabbed my hand in his usual fashion and sent a chill up my spine.

I wanted to say that I had not agreed to anything, but I didn't want him to let go of my hand. So, I stood there.

Suddenly, he let go. "Wait," he said. "I forgot something at home. I'm going to go get it. Meet me at Route 201 in five. I'm fining you 1 million if you're late!" He suddenly sprinted off, leaving my hand feeling cold, even though the weather was balmy.

"Okay, well, have fun," my mom said leaving. "I'm going to have some breakfast." I knew better. Breakfast meant that she would eat a waffle and start having glasses of mimosa. My mom didn't eat breakfast unless she had to. She tried telling me that it was just orange juice, but you don't drink juice out of a champagne flute unless it's from a grape.

"Just don't go in the tall grass. It's dangerous, unless, of course, you had a Pokemon…" She trailed off as she walked away.

I began to walk toward the route, thinking about what she said. I always thought about getting a Pokemon, somehow, but whenever you got a Pokemon, that meant that you'd be a Trainer. You couldn't escape it really. If you had a Pokemon, there would always be someone to ask you to battle, or a Bidoof would wander out of the grass. Maybe I'd just do little battles.

I came closer to the route to see Mac already standing there. "There you are!" he said. "I've been waiting _forever_." He grabbed my hand again, giving me another shock. "Let's go!" He pulled me through the little path in the trees to get to the beach.

I always wanted to go to the beach with just Mac. I wanted to watch the sunset in silence and watch the colors change on the water, but Mac was always going. It was hard to ever get him to stop and talk. There were a lot of things I wanted to say.


End file.
